Who are the Bartholomews of Linlithgow?

Part 2: John Bartholomew senior and his son John in Edinburgh

John Bartholomew senior (1805-1861) was the eldest son of George Bartholomew and Anne McGregor. Apprenticed like his father to W. H. Lizars in Edinburgh, he was the first of the Bartholomews to focus almost all of his engraving skills to the production of maps and city plans. In 1829, John married his aunt Margaret McGregor (1796—1864), his mother's younger sister and the daughter of William McGregor, a farmer’s servant of Gladsmuir. John and Margaret had five children, of whom John junior (1831—1893 and Henry (1834—1899) also became engravers.

John Bartholomew junior was born on December 25th, 1831 in Edinburgh. In 1859, he married Annie McGregor, the daughter of John McGregor, a smith of Greenock. Following his first wife Annie’s early death aged 37, he then married Anne Cumming in 1874, the daughter of Primrose Nimmo, a master brass founder of Edinburgh.

John was sought after as an engraver throughout Scotland and beyond. He travelled widely in Europe and North America to obtain new work for the family business. He died on a trip to London in 1893 seeking special treatment and was buried in Edinburgh.

From his two marriages, John had three sons, and eight daughters. For a simplified overview of the different families that came after him, this chart should be helpful.

It was John junior's eldest son John George Bartholomew b.1860 who would assure the continuation of the map-making tradition.

From John junior’s first marriage, the family of his eldest son, John George is covered in detail in Part 1 of the Bartholomew story here. He married Jennie MACDONALD from Sutherland.

The first daughter Margaret (‘Madge’) was a nurse but never married.

Anne McGregor married and settled in Cambridge with Alexander MACKINTOSH, a wholesale ironmonger. They had two sons Alister and John and one daughter Margaret. Most of their descendants still live in the south of England.

Henrietta (‘Hettie’) married Thomas Chater JACK from Glasgow. Thomas was a successful publisher. They had two sons, Frederick and Arnold. Frederick, a decorated Lieutenant-Colonel, in turn married Emilie May Sutton of the famous seed family. Many of this larger family branch either lived or settled overseas, especially in Africa.

John junior’s second son, William Scott joined the family map-making firm. He married Janet BARRON but there were no children.

Then followed two children, Samuel and Elizabeth who both died in infancy.

The last daughter with Annie was Matilda ('May'). She married Swedish-born Kurt Magnus LUNDBERG. The family settled in California.. There are no further descendants alive today in this branch.

It was just four months after Matilda’s birth that Annie McGREGOR died aged just 37. Fifteen months later, John junior remarried. With Anne CUMMING he would have three further children.

Jane Philip (‘Jeannie’) married twice. First she was married in Bombay India to Charles SMITH with whom she had a son Charles. From her second marriage to Godfrey ELLIOT from Northamptonshire, there were three further children. Youngest daughter Primrose emigrated to the United States with her German husband Herbert Steffen PEISER. Their children have stayed in North America.

Jessie Nimmo married Perthshire-born David Charles Hay EDIE. This family branch travelled extensively abroad, and is mostly settled overseas today in France, Ireland, Asia and the United States. Jessie died in Monaco.

Last daughter, Primrose married Frederick KENWARD and went to live with him in East Africa. They had two children. Son Richard died young in a motor accident, but his sister Anne (‘Peggie’) settled back in the south of England which is where their descendants live today.